Creating and managing smart groups

A smart group is a collection of devices based on a set of filter criteria. Devices that satisfy the filter criteria at the time a smart group is created, viewed, or used become part of the device group (except the "within next" and "not within next" date-based filter conditions).

The icon indicates a smart group.

You can use two types of smart groups to organize your devices:

  • Standalone: the smart group is not part of a folder or another device group and resides at the highest level in the hierarchy.
  • Child: the smart group is contained in a folder, or it's nested under another device group.

To create a smart group:

  1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console with Manage permissions for Device Groups and folders.
  2. On the navigation bar, click Devices.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To add a standalone smart group, click next to Device Groups on the Devices sidebar and click New smart group.
    • To add a child smart group under another smart group or folder, click the parent smart group or folder on the Devices sidebar, and click (Add smart group) on the action toolbar. If you are adding the smart group to an empty folder, you can also click Add smart group in the work area.

    A new smart group named Smart group - <date stamp> is created. If a smart group already exists with the same name, the name is appended with a number. There are no filters applied to the smart group but if the new smart group is a child of a smart group, it inherits the parent's filters.

  4. Click in the name or description fields and update the fields. Press Enter, click (Save Changes), or click outside the field to save the new name or description. Click (Cancel Changes) to discard your changes.

    The name can be up to 80 characters. The description can be up to 250 characters.

  5. On the action toolbar, click to apply filters to the smart group. The Filters dialog opens.

    If there are any parent groups, the parent group names are displayed below Inherited filters. Hover over the group name to display the inherited filters.

  6. On the Filters dialog page add one or more filters. The Agent status is Active filter is applied by default, but you can remove it, if desired. The number of devices that match the filters updates as you refine the filters.

    For smart device groups, only a subset of device fields is available in the filters. To view the available fields, click the first filter field and scroll through the list.

  7. Click Save.

The new smart group shows on the Device Groups sidebar and a Smart device group created and Smart device group updated events are logged to Event History.

You can update the filters associated with a smart group to change the devices that are included in it.

You can't update the filters of your own smart permission group because it defines the devices you can manage.

To edit the filters for a smart group:

  1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console with Manage permissions for Device Groups and folders.

    2. If you are updating a permission group, the Edit permission groups permission for Device Groups and folders is required.

  2. On the navigation bar, click Devices.
  3. On the Devices sidebar, search for and select the smart group you want to edit to open it in the work area.
  4. On the action toolbar, click . The Filters dialog opens.

    Note the following:

    • If the smart group is assigned to one or more users in User Management, a message warns you that editing the group's filters will change the devices that those users can manage.

    • If the icon is grayed out, you don't have the required permissions.

    • If there are any parent groups, the parent group names are displayed below Inherited filters. Hover over the group name to display the inherited filters.

  5. Update the filters by adding filters, defining filter criteria, or removing filters. The number of devices that match the filters updates as you refine the filters.

    Note the following:

    • For smart groups, a subset of device fields is available in the filters. To view the available fields, click the first filter field and scroll through the list.

    • If the first filter field is red, its associated field has been deleted. You won't be able to save the smart group until you remove or replace the filter.

  6. Click Save.

The smart group's filters are updated and a Smart device group updated event is logged to Event History.

You can perform the following tasks on a smart group:

Depending on the permissions associated with your user role, some smart group functionality may not be available.